
Harry Baker
Harry is a U.K.-based senior staff writer at Live Science. He studied marine biology at the University of Exeter before training to become a journalist. He covers a wide range of topics including space exploration, planetary science, space weather, climate change, animal behavior and paleontology. His recent work on the solar maximum won "best space submission" at the 2024 Aerospace Media Awards and was shortlisted in the "top scoop" category at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence in 2023. He also writes Live Science's weekly Earth from space series.
Latest articles by Harry Baker

Potentially hazardous asteroids: How many dangerous space rocks lurk near Earth — and can we stop them?
By JoAnna Wendel, Harry Baker last updated
Here's everything you need to know about the potentially hazardous asteroids that come worryingly close to our planet.

Mystery star could belong to the fastest planetary system ever seen
By Harry Baker published
Researchers believe they have rediscovered a mysterious star system first spotted in 2011. If true, the alien sun and its exoplanet companion are speeding through our galaxy at more than 1.2 million mph. However, it is unclear if this is really the case.

Parisian photographer produces phenomenal, perfectly-proportioned 'planetary parade' portrait
By Harry Baker published
A French astrophotographer recently snapped shots of the moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in a single evening, and rearranged them to create a striking composite image. Each "planetary parade" member was captured with the same magnification, meaning they are perfectly scaled.

Earth grew an extra, never-before-seen 'radiation belt' after last year's supercharged solar storm — and it's probably still there
By Harry Baker published
Data collected from a once-defunct NASA satellite show that Earth grew two extra radiation belts following a supercharged geomagnetic storm in May 2024, including a never-before-seen structure that is "likely still there today," researchers say.

Sun quiz: How well do you know our home star?
By Harry Baker published
Quiz Test your knowledge on the giant ball of burning gas at the heart of the solar system.

The heart-shaped 'Spirit Lake' sculpted by Mount St. Helens' epic eruption
By Harry Baker published
Earth from space This 2023 satellite photo shows the heart-shaped Spirit Lake, which was transformed by the cataclysmic eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.

Venus and the moon dance over the Eiffel Tower in stunning 'planetary parade' photo from Paris
By Harry Baker published
A French astrophotographer has captured a stunning photo of Venus and the moon shining above the Eiffel Tower in Paris, thanks to a rare "parade of planets."

'Stranded' NASA astronaut Suni Williams photographed from Earth during record-breaking spacewalk. Can you spot her?
By Harry Baker published
A photographer on Earth has captured an incredible telescope image of NASA astronaut Suni Williams outside of the International Space Station, as it passed by roughly 250 miles overhead.

Jupiter's 'tormented moon' Io just unleashed the most powerful volcanic event ever seen
By Harry Baker published
NASA's Juno spacecraft has discovered a giant volcanic hot spot on the surface of Jupiter's hellish moon Io. The eruptions in this area are chucking out six times the energy being produced by all Earth's power stations, researchers say.

Golden river of toxic waste spills out from deadly mining disaster in South Africa
By Harry Baker published
Earth from space A 2022 satellite photo shows a shimmering trail of dried, chemically-enriched mud left behind by a torrent of wastewater that flooded a South African mining town, killing three people.

Milky Way quiz: How well do you know our home galaxy?
By Harry Baker published
Quiz Test your knowledge of the Milky Way's size, speed, age, galactic neighbors and more.

Mars quiz: Is your knowledge of the Red Planet out of this world?
By Harry Baker published
Quiz Think you know Mars? Test your knowledge of our neighboring planet's size, surface, history and more.

Newly discovered near-Earth asteroid isn't an asteroid at all — it's Elon Musk's trashed Tesla
By Harry Baker published
Astronomers have retracted the discovery of a new asteroid after realizing the object was the remains of Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster and its driver "Starman," which were launched into space in 2018.

Chinese astronauts make rocket fuel and oxygen in space using 1st-of-its-kind 'artificial photosynthesis'
By Harry Baker published
Astronauts on board China's "heavenly palace" space station have demonstrated a new way of making rocket fuel products and breathable oxygen by mimicking a chemical reaction in plants. The technology could be utilized in China's planned moon base.

Italy's 'ticking time bomb' plays peek-a-boo through a mysterious hole in the clouds
By Harry Baker published
Earth from space This 2022 satellite photo shows the summit of "one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes," Mount Vesuvius, peering up through a strange gap in the clouds.

'Supersonic jetstream' with winds 130 times faster than a Category 5 hurricane spotted in the Milky Way
By Harry Baker published
The record-breaking winds are circling the nearby "puffy" exoplanet WASP-127b, and are traveling six times faster than the alien world spins.

Invisible 'flickering' on the sun could predict potentially dangerous solar flares hours in advance
By Harry Baker published
Images captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory have revealed that "coronal loops" give off subtle flashes of ultraviolet light before a solar flare, which could act as an early warning system for dangerous space weather.

1st supernovas may have flooded the early universe with water — making life possible just 100 million years after the Big Bang
By Harry Baker published
A new study suggests that the explosive deaths of the universe's earliest stars created surprising quantities of water that may have sparked extraterrestrial life in the very first galaxies.

Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS' 'near-death encounter' with the sun may have blown it apart, new photos suggest
By Harry Baker published
New photos of comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) suggest that it could be disintegrating due to "thermal stress" from its recent slingshot around the sun. However, its fate is still unclear.

'Marsquakes' may solve 50-year-old mystery about the Red Planet
By Harry Baker published
Data collected by NASA's InSight lander suggest that ancient internal processes are responsible for the "Martian dichotomy" that splits the Red Planet into two distinct halves.

'Herculean' 2.5-billion-pixel mosaic shows our closest galactic neighbor like never before — and took more than a decade to create
By Harry Baker published
The new composite image, which combines hundreds of photos from the Hubble Space Telescope, shows the Andromeda Galaxy with more than 200 million individually resolved stars.

Massive field of ancient lava casts an eerie, gold-specked shadow in the Sahara
By Harry Baker published
Earth from space A stunning composite image, made up of three years' worth of satellite photos, shows the ancient lava of Libya's Haruj volcanic field interspersed with patches of golden sand.

'Totally amazing' astronaut photo captures comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS shooting past Earth from the ISS
By Harry Baker published
NASA astronaut Don Pettit has snapped a striking shot of the super-bright comet racing past our planet for the first time in 160,000 years, as it lit up the night skies across the globe.

Supermassive black hole spotted 12.9 billion light-years from Earth — and it's shooting a beam of energy right at us
By Harry Baker published
The newly discovered "blazar," which has a mass equal to 700 million suns, is the oldest of its kind ever seen and changes what we know about the early universe.

Scientists discover 'sunken worlds' hidden deep within Earth's mantle that shouldn't be there
By Harry Baker published
A new way of measuring structures deep inside Earth has highlighted numerous previously unknown blobs within our planet's mantle. These anomalies are surprisingly similar to sunken chunks of Earth's crust but appear in seemingly impossible places.
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